Kick

• Lucy Wakefield, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2015

It was a hot summer’s night and my family were staying in a hotel in Bali. Before bed we went for a walk along the beach to walk off our buffet dinner. There were no waves in the water. The sand was smooth and squishy beneath our feet.

Us kids decided to have a late night swim. There were so many different types of tropical fish in the water. On our way back to the hotel dad was kicking his feet in the sand when he kicked something. He looked down and his toe started bleeding.
“Ow” Dad whined. The blood stained a bit of the sand. Mum looked down and picked it up.

It was a old wine bottle with a cork in it. Inside there was a letter. Mum took out the letter inside and Dad opened it up and read it. It was a bit hard to read but the word ‘HELP’ was clear.

The letter described a location in Bali. We ran down to the lobby to find transport to take us to the address on the letter. The receptionist organised a black 4-wheel drive that was waiting for us in the driveway.

The car had tinted windows and a well working air con. the driver welcomed us in and turned on some music. Dad told the driver were we wanted to go and the driver said that there was nothing there but old markets. The driver refused to take us but dad threatened to call the police. The driver started driving faster after dad’s threat.

The place was quite far away and took a while. The driver became friendly and asked us why we needed to go there. We all kept quiet. We finally reached the place and a shiver went up our spines.

The place was covered in graffiti and paint and old posters were peeling off. It was right on the beach. Dad went inside the old markets and told us to stay in the car. A while after he came out with a lady with duct tape on her mouth and rope around her hands and legs. She was very scared and frightened but glad that she was now going to be safe. Dad took her back to the hotel and invited her into our room so we could find out what had happened to her.

The lady said that she had been walking to go to the hairdressers while listening to music on her phone and a man wearing a beanie over his head grabbed her and dragged her inside. She had found an old bottle in the warehouse and managed to scribble a help note. Dad booked her into a room and she had been actually staying in a hotel next door.
We enjoyed the rest of our holiday and the lady went back to Sydney. We wondered what might have happened to the lady if Dad had not kicked the bottle on the beach that night!